Friday, June 29, 2012

Apricot Rice Pudding Pops

Lately I have been intrigued by different popsicle/pops/frozen treats on a stick. I guess it was the heat spell we had that got me thinking about these confections; however, it was this recipe that really made me want to try it. I had some molds from years ago but had struggled getting the pops out of these, so I bought some new ones to experiment. There are quite a few recipes on the internet, so I think this will be a good project for Eleanor when I'm at work. It seems like a tiny bit of effort for a big reward, in general. Perhaps a bit easier than making cookies:)

Paging through my recent Bon Appetit I found these and was really intrigued. A trip to the Asian grocery store was not in my immediate future, so I did something I usually do anyway.....adapt. The adapted version was good, so now I'm excited to try the original. I suspect that the original is that much better!

My version:
1-3/4 c plus 2 T combination of coconut milk from a carton) and skim milk
1/4 c heavy cream
1 t ground ginger
1 t vanilla
3 T sushi rice
1/4 c sliced dried apricots
1/4 c sugar
Place rice and 1/2 c water in a small bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain and add to saucepan. Add milk, coconut milk, cream, ginger, 1/4 c water, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is very tender, 30 minutes or so. The original directions state not to stir it...which was very hard to resist. Let cool slightly and add sugar and apricots. Pour into molds and freeze until beginning to set (30-45 minutes). Insert a stick into each pop and freeze another hour or so.